Sheet piles are walls made from metal, vinyl, or wood that are planted in the ground to form a physical barrier against water, insects, and plant life. They are commonly used in loose soil and can be supported by diagonal supports or anchor lines. The material used varies, but galvanized steel is most common. Sheet piles can be any size or shape and are effective because of their interlocking plates.
A sheet pile is both a form of retaining wall and the sheets used to make the wall. These sheets are commonly made from metal, but can also be vinyl or wood. The sheeting is planted in the ground and locked together to form a tight physical barrier to water, insects and plant life. These types of retaining walls are common in areas with loose sand and soil, as they are relatively easy to place and maintain. Small walls are usually two parts below ground and one part above, but larger walls may have a larger underground area or additional supports.
The material used to make a sheet pile varies according to the intended use of the wall. The most common and general-purpose material is metal, but some plastics and wood have uses in specific circumstances. The metal used to make sheet piles is almost always galvanized steel. This metal has undergone a process to make it more resistant to environmental hazards, such as shock and humidity.
There are a variety of common sheet pile shapes. Many of the basic styles have alternating high and low flat surfaces connected by sloping sides; just like the corrugation inside the carton. This shape improves the structural stability of the metal and makes it easier to stack for storage or transport. With this design, there is typically a break in the middle of the high or low flat stitch.
These breaks are what make sheet piles so effective. The edge of each piece is specially designed to connect to the edge of the piece next to it. This allows the wall to be any size or shape and to follow the contours of the terrain. By making the break in an open area, rather than a corner or intersection, pieces of different designs can work together to form the larger wall.
Sheet pile retaining walls are used in many different types of construction. In some areas they are buried a short distance from the foundations of a structure. This helps prevent water from reaching the very foundation of the building. Even so, their most common use is as retaining walls in loose soil. Because the walls are so thin, it’s easy to push them into loose soil, and their interlocking plates allow them to get around underground obstacles, such as rocks or utility lines.
To maintain stability and hold its shape, a sheet pile needs twice as much subsoil as soil. In particularly bumpy areas, or with larger walls, other precautions are sometimes taken. Diagonal supports are the simplest additional support method and are placed on the low side of the wall. Also, anchor lines are sometimes attached to the wall and run diagonally across the material being held and anchor to the surface.
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